


A Secret Worth Keeping

by Taliax



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Identity Reveal, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode: s03 Chat Blanc, Episode: s03 Chat Blanc Spoilers, F/M, Identity Reveal, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug Identity Reveal, Post-Episode: s03 Chat Blanc, Romance, also strong ladrien energy, as all chat blanc fics need, mostly adrinette but you know it's a reveal so it's all over the place babey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-29
Updated: 2020-03-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:54:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23373475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taliax/pseuds/Taliax
Summary: The beret smelled like Ladybug.  It was only natural that Adrien would wear it to school.He didn't know why Marinette would look so terrified to see it.(Post-Chat Blanc identity reveal)
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 113
Kudos: 1061
Collections: Tali Brand Reveal Fics





	A Secret Worth Keeping

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mozzys_studio](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mozzys_studio/gifts).



> This fic is for my pal marikittynoir / mozzys-studio! You're cool my dude I hope this lives up to your dreams

“Did you know I have a fan club in Brazil, Plagg?” Adrien asked as he examined the beret Ladybug had dropped off.

“Like I keep track of all the girls who want to gobble you up like a piece of cheese.” Plagg snorted and lounged on the now-empty windowsill. It was tempting to run to the window, try to follow his partner’s path home with his eyes. But he knew better than to breach her trust like that.

“It’s not like that, Plagg. I’m sure they’re just into fashion, like Marinette.”

Though… the hearts embroidered on it _were_ a little much. It was too bad the gift wasn’t actually from Ladybug, like he’d first guessed when he’d caught her in his room. 

“I wonder how they got it to her and not me,” he thought out loud. “Some fans in Brazil wouldn’t know her identity, would they? That’s on the whole other side of the world.”

“Of course they wouldn’t. You’re her partner, you know she’s not _that_ careless.”

Adrien didn’t like Plagg’s tone. Ladybug wasn’t careless at all. Of course no one knew her identity, or she’d have to give up her miraculous.

Though Master Fu would have to go through him before he ever let that happen.

“You’re right.” Adrien sighed and flopped back on the bed, still running his fingers over the beret. The fabric was silky soft, obviously high quality. “I still wonder how they got this to her. Even _I_ don’t know how to contact Ladybug unless I’m transformed.”

Plagg shrugged. “Maybe they sent it to the mayor or the Eiffel Tower or something. Who cares? It’s a dumb looking hat anyway.”

“It’s not _dumb.”_ He held it closer to his chest and caught a whiff of Ladybug’s scent. Sugar and cinnamon mixed with some kind of flowery perfume. He’d wear it for weeks just to cling to that scrap of her.

Of course, the smell of camembert would probably overpower it before too long. Why hadn’t the same company that made “Adrien the Fragrance” bottled Ladybug’s heavenly aroma yet?

He was lost in daydreams of Ladybug modelling for a perfume ad for a few minutes before the itching mystery of the Brazillian fan club intruded again. Maybe if he looked them up online, he could ask someone how they’d gotten ahold of her in the first place.

 _Or I could just ask her,_ the more rational part of his mind said. But Adrien didn’t have any reason to get close to her, and Chat wouldn’t have any reason to know about her delivery.

Which begged the question… why did Ladybug agree to deliver the present in the first place? She said there was a postal strike in Brazil, but unless she’d used the horse miraculous, the package had at least gotten to Paris.

“None of this makes any sense.” His brow furrowed as he picked up the blank card that had come along with the package. The Brazillians hadn’t even left him a note.

He squinted. Or maybe they had—it looked like something had been erased from the bottom left corner.

“Hey Plagg, can you make this out?” He asked. 

The kwami had been oddly quiet. Normally he liked to flip through a magazine or play foosball after a day of being squashed inside Adrien’s fencing gear.

“Huh? What? That little smudged spot?” Plagg waved a paw dismissively. “Nah. Probably just a stamp that ripped off, or something. Who cares? They should’ve sent you cheese instead, anyway.”

“It’s definitely not a stamp. There’s eraser marks, see?” Adrien sat up, crossing his legs on the bed. As he held the paper up to the light, he could almost make out the left over indentations of the word that had been erased.

“I wouldn’t look at that too closely if I were you. If she got rid of what she wrote, it’s for a good reason, right?”

Adrien’s head snapped up. “Wait— _she?”_

Plagg froze, looking guiltier than the time Adrien had caught him sneaking an extra wheel of camembert after dinner. 

“Uh, did I say she? I mean they! The fan club, remember? I bet it’s a lot of _she_ s though. Or guys maybe, it doesn’t matter to me.”

“No, you said she!” Adrien scrambled on his knees, rumpling the carefully made comforter. The beret reamined clutched in his right hand as he came face to face with where Plagg was laying. “Plagg—did Ladybug actually get this for me?”

“No! Of course not! Why would she do that?” Plagg laughed. “Come on, kid, you’re just saying that because you wish she would give you a present.”

Adrien’s face fell. _Was_ he reading too much into it? After all, Ladybug herself had said the beret was from Brazil. Why would she lie to him?

“...Maybe you’re right.” 

But he still took another deep whiff from the beret. She must have held onto it for a while at least. Would it be so bad to imagine it was hers? The stitching even looked like it was from a home sewing machine, not a factory. A few little threads hung off from the underside, just imperfect enough to feel handmade. And the pattern matched his favorite shirt, the one he was only allowed to wear to school or for stock photo shoots. His fans wouldn’t have known that if they were focused on his father’s fashion, right?

 _Getting your hopes up again,_ he thought with another wistful sigh.

Oh well. Regardless of the beret’s origin, Ladybug had come to see him. That was more than enough to cheer him up from the disappointment of Father missing his fencing tournament.

He smiled up at the ceiling. 

“She really is simply the best.”

XXX

At school the next day, he guessed someone might comment on his beret. Maybe Nino would appreciate having a hat buddy. Maybe Chloe would say that he’d finally learned how to accessorize. Maybe Marinette would have something to compliment about the design.

What he did _not_ expect was for all of the girls chatting on the steps to look at him like they’d seen a ghost. And then for each and every single one of them to hone in on _Marinette_.

 _“Girl!_ I thought you said you didn’t give it to him!” Alya whispered.

“W-well…” Marinette tapped her index fingers together. What she said after that was too quiet for him to make out, but it had all of the girls looking at each other in confusion. Rose squealed in excitement. Alix groaned before shoving a stuffed unicorn at her.

“What’s going on?” He asked Marinette as he approached the group. 

She jumped higher than the time he’d accidentally startled her in the locker room

“Nothing!” She waved her hands frantically.

Alya’s jaw dropped. _“Girl!_ Tell me this isn’t a repeat of the scarf incident!”

Marinette’s panicked eyes flickered between the girls’ gazes, and Adrien wondered if he’d walked in on something secret. But he was too curious to leave. And besides, if Marinette was having any trouble, he hoped he could help.

“What scarf?” His head tilted. 

_“Also nothing,”_ she said with a glare at Alya before forcing a too-wide smile. “I-I mean, it’s ages ago, it doesn’t matter now!”

“Oh… okay.” 

Concerned though he was, he didn’t want to push her boundaries. He was about to say that he’d see her in class and that she could always talk to him if she wanted to, but before he could, Juleka spoke up.

“So you like the hat?” Her bangs swung in front of her eye as she nodded towards his beret.

“Huh? You know about it?” Had she possibly seen Ladybug on her way to deliver it? No, it had been wrapped at the time.

“Of course we do!” Alya grinned as Marinette made slicing motions in front of her throat. 

_“Alya,”_ she hissed under her breath.

“Come on girl, you’re so close! He obviously likes it!” Alya whispered back.

Adrien’s brow furrowed. He was mostly wearing the hat because it still smelled like Ladybug, but they didn’t need to know that.

Alix sighed wearily. “She didn’t tell you, did she?”

“It was Marinette who made—” Rose began before she cut her off.

_“Don’t you dare!”_

If her words were directed at Rose, why was Marinette looking at _him_ with such wide eyed terror? Did he do something wrong again without realizing, like he had at the wax museum? Or was his new beret really that ugly?

“I’m sorry.” He reached towards her vaguely before letting his arm fall back at his side. If only he knew what he was doing wrong! He would do anything to make Marinette feel comfortable again.

“We’re just trying to help,” Mylene said softly.

“W-well you’re not!” She spun and shouted back. The girls jumped—understandably; Adrien had never heard her snap like that at anyone but Lila, who wasn’t even here right now. “Just— _leave me alone!”_

“What? _Marinette!”_ Alya called after her, but she was already running away from the school, down the street.

Adrien would’ve preferred to get context from the girls first, but there wasn’t time. His feet pounded against the pavement as he chased after his friend.

“This is a bad idea,” Plagg hissed from his shirt pocket. “You just made things worse last time, remember?”

Like he could forget the time she almost kissed him while he was pretending to be a statue. It still didn’t all make sense to him, but he supposed he deserved it after tricking her like that.

“I have to try. She could be akumatized if we leave her now.”

Marinette had never been akumatized before, and he wanted to keep it that way. He wasn’t sure he’d be much help to Ladybug if he was forced to fight her.

 _Don’t think about that. She’s going to be fine,_ he told himself as he rounded a corner and found her pacing frantically at the end of an alley—

And a violet butterfly fluttering straight towards her.

_“Marinette!”_

He sprinted with all the strength his superpowerless legs could give him. His transformation phrase caught in his throat, torn between _protect Marinette_ and _your identity must remain secret._ He doubted he could regret calling a Cataclysm to turn the insect to dust. Because even if it meant revealing himself, this was _Marinette_ and he couldn’t let Hawkmoth steal the light behind her blue eyes, watch her become a puppet to his demands and her own twisted emotions— 

But he didn’t decide quickly enough. When he was three steps from her, the butterfly dissolved into one of her red hair ties. A translucent purple mask flashed over her wet eyes.

“No,” he breathed. 

This couldn’t be happening. The moment felt surreal, despite the number of his classmates who had already been akumatized. And Marinette had always been different from his other friends, even if he couldn’t admit it until he was watching her like this, pulling at her hair, at her ears—

Wait, her ears?

“Adrien,” she gasped, her voice cracking under the pressure of resisting Hawkmoth. 

The bubbling darkness hadn’t washed over her yet. She might still have a chance. He wasn’t sure if anyone had ever fought off the supervillain’s influence before, but if anyone could, it was her.

“Marinette, look at me.” He took her hands, guiding them away from where they clawed at her earlobes. “It’s going to be okay. Whatever you’re afraid of, whatever Hawkmoth’s telling you he can fix—I promise you, we can do it together. Without him.”

Her eyes glazed over. He might not have much time.

But at least he had one advantage.

One hand squeezed both of hers while his other reached up to carefully unwind the tainted hair tie from around her pigtail. It crumpled beneath his fingers, releasing half of her hair to cascade down her neck—and releasing the dark butterfly back into the air. 

“Oh no you don’t,” he growled and scooped it into his satchel, careful to tug the zipper completely shut.

“Adrien, no! You’ll be—”

He smiled at her once his prize was caught fluttering helplessly alongside his notebooks. 

“—akumatized,” she finished, eyes wide.

A blush stained his face as he flung his satchel away. She was right. He’d been touching the bag. If his own negative emotions had been strong enough, he might have become an akuma himself. He couldn’t imagine how awful that would be—for Ladybug as much as himself.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to be careless. I just saw you about to be akumatized, and I…”

 _I didn’t know if I could bring myself to fight you._ But he couldn’t tell her that. He scratched the back of his neck.

“You saved me.” She wiped away tears with the back of her hand. “Oh my gosh, I was almost…”

She shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself. Adrien wished those were his arms enveloping her instead, but didn’t know if that would make things worse. She had asked to be left alone, and he still had no idea what had prompted her panic in the first place.

“Do you want to talk about it?” He asked gently. “I know you wouldn’t be this upset if it wasn’t important.”

She bit her lip, eyes flickering to his hat, then to the satchel that still bulged occasionally as the butterfly tried to escape. Now more than ever he wished he knew how to call Ladybug. Maybe he should’ve done some research on his Brazillian fan club after all.

Though, now that he considered Marinette and the girls’ reactions this morning, as well as Plagg’s slip yesterday afternoon, he was less sure that a potentially-hypothetical fan club could help.

“I can’t.” She shook her head, and she seemed to wilt.

“It wasn’t… something I did, was it? Because you can talk to Alya, or anyone else, it doesn’t have to be me. I just want you to be okay.” He stepped closer, reaching out to wipe a stream of tears from the soft curve of her cheek. 

She stiffened at the contact. Right. They weren’t close enough for that either, no matter how much he wanted to be.

(Or how much they might secretly be, if his too-hopeful theory was true.)

“N-no, Adrien, it’s not you at all. _I_ messed up.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “I messed up so, so bad, and now my best friend is going to pay the price for it.”

“Alya?” He frowned. 

“No.” She almost-laughed and looked up towards the rooftops. “I really thought you’d figured it out. Maybe I’m not too late after all.”

She seemed to be talking to herself more than him. But by now, he was fairly confident he knew at least part of what she meant.

“You made this beret,” he realized, slipping it off his head and holding it close. “Was that what you were worried about me finding out?”

The color drained from her face. 

“Would you believe I was commissioned by your fan club in Brazil?”

Ladybug was the only one who knew it was the Brazilian fans who sent it to him. And she’d mentioned a postal strike there, which meant Marinette _couldn’t_ have made it, unless— 

Visions of his partner and his friend blurred together in his memories. Marinette dressed as Ladybug for Clara Nightingale’s music video. Ladybug asking him to team up with Marinette against the Evillustrator. She may have been able to fool him as Multimouse, but his gut feeling made too much sense to ignore again.

“You’re Ladybug,” he blurted before any better judgement (or the pain of Plagg smacking him under his shirt) could kick in.

“Shhhh! _No one can know!”_

She practically tackled him against the alley wall as her hands slammed over his mouth. He almost dropped his hat, which didn’t seem as important now that her cinnamon-sugar scent was surrounding him anyway. He just wished it was because she was hugging him, and not because she was terrified of him knowing her identity. 

The butterfly beat even more forcefully against the cage of his satchel, a reminder of just how important it was that her secret stay secret. If Hawkmoth found out… he didn’t even want to imagine what could happen.

But she hadn’t tried to lie to him this time. She was Ladybug— _Marinette_ was Ladybug! And she’d given him the beret—no, she’d _made_ him the beret, which meant his wishful thinking was actually right, which meant—

The embroidered hearts on his beret suddenly didn’t seem too much anymore.

“Do you—do you like me?”

Even muffled by her hands against his mouth, his voice betrayed too much of his swelling hope. She’d chosen Adrien to work with against Desperada. Even if he’d been the wrong pick in the end, that counted for something, right?

“W-what? I—what makes you think I—?” She stammered before finally hanging her head and releasing him. “Yeah. I wanted to give you that beret to finally confess to you, but then Nathalie wouldn’t let me in your house, and so I snuck in as Ladybug even though Tikki warned me not to, and then you found out and I got Chat Noir akumatized and I _thought_ I fixed it when I erased my name but apparently I _didn’t_ and now I have to give up my miraculous or else everyone will find out I’m Ladybug—”

“Maybe you shouldn’t shout _I’m Ladybug,”_ a higher-pitched voice from her bag suggested, and she froze.

“Right. Right.” She leaned against the wall and took a few deep breaths. 

Adrien began rubbing soothing circles on her back—something he’d occasionally do as Chat when Ladybug was stressed. She relaxed into his touch instead of stiffening this time, probably an instinctive reaction.

Because she was Ladybug. Marinette was Ladybug. _And she’d tried to confess her feelings to him._

He should probably tell her he liked her back, right? Or would she only feel more stressed by that? She didn’t seem happy that he’d found out— though that probably had something to do with _Chat Noir getting akumatized._

“I can’t let Hawkmoth sense my emotions again,” she said while he was still trying to process everything. “I’m lucky that he didn’t seem to understand most of them. He knew I was upset because I’d caused a friend to get akumatized, but since almost our whole class has been, that didn’t give him any clues to my identity. Not that it matters, because I… I can’t be Ladybug anymore anyway.”

Her breath came in short hiccups as tears once again leaked down her face. 

“My la… Marinette,” he corrected himself as he gently turned her to face him. “You’re an _amazing_ Ladybug. No one else could do what you do. Believe me, I’ve—” _I’ve tried,_ he stopped himself from saying. He caught Tikki’s knowing grin from her spot in Marinette’s purse. “Anyway. I won’t let anyone take your miraculous, and I won’t tell anyone your identity, I swear.”

He’d guarded his own secret for this long; he was sure he could do the same for Marinette. 

“And I—and Chat Noir’s never been akumatized.” Unless he’d forgotten, like during Oblivio or Dark Cupid… but he couldn’t completely forget the fact that _he’d_ been akumatized, right? He would have at least seen it on the Ladyblog.

“Not _yet.”_ She wouldn’t meet his eyes. “It’s complicated. Bunnyx—she’s the hero with the miraculous of time—took me to the future, only everything was wrong, and—it’s complicated,” she repeated with a sigh.

 _Everything_ about today was complicated. All because he’d decided to wear the hat that smelled like her.

“If it’s really a big deal, can’t she fix it again? Or couldn’t she just… I don’t know, have stopped you from giving me this beret in the first place?” 

He clutched the gift tighter. He didn’t want the proof of her feelings ripped from him, but what else could he do? She didn’t want him to know. He’d always meant to respect her privacy. If he’d been thinking straighter, maybe he would’ve played dumb. Then she wouldn’t have to panic, and they could be together, and she could come to his photoshoots and he could model her designs and they could adopt a hamster— 

But if what she was saying was true, then the problem was that _he_ knew, not anyone else.

“I guess…” she mumbled, frowning at the beret in his hand. “But what if she _can’t_ fix it? If you know, and it gets out, and my partner gets akumatized… I could never forgive myself. I may be in love with you, but he means the world to me. I was selfish to still give you that hat when I knew what could happen.”

His heart could’ve stopped right then. She was _in love_ with him! He wanted to spin her in his arms, but he settled for squeezing her shoulder and giving his most comforting smile.

“You didn’t know I’d find out. And really, I don’t think you have anything to worry about.” He laughed. “How could Chat Noir ever be akumatized after learning that you’re in love with him?”

She looked up, brows furrowed in confusion. “But I already told you I’m not—”

Her mouth made a tiny _o_ as recognition flashed across her face.

“Y-you’re him. You’re Chat Noir.” 

He gave a quick wink. “The one and only, my Lady.”

Her forehead thumped against his chest, nearly startling him into tripping backwards.

“It’s _you._ This whole time I’ve been so worried and it was _you!_ And I love you so much and— _and this is terrible!”_

The butterfly started fitfully fluttering again at her wail. It was a good thing Hawkmoth could only evilize one at once, or Adrien would worry about him sending another one after her. He kept his eyes peeled just in case.

“What’s terrible?” He asked while resuming rubbing her back.

“You—when you were akumatized—you said it was…” she choked back another sob. “It was _our love_ that did that. I didn’t think it was possible, since I wasn’t in love with Chat, but… it all makes sense now. Of _course_ I loved you when we got hit by Oblivio, and in the alternate timeline. It was always _you.”_

If Marinette kept saying she was in love with him, he was probably going to combust on the spot. Which made it very hard to think clearly and come up with a solution that didn’t leave them as star-crossed lovers until Hawkmoth was defeated.

“And it was always you.” He wrapped his arms around her, letting her cry into his shirt while he ran his fingers through the loose half of her hair. “If akumatized-me said our love was what ruined everything, then it must have been the butterfly talking. I would _never_ let Hawkmoth use my love against you, Marinette. I swear, I’ll do whatever it takes to protect you.”

She pulled back just enough for him to see a smile beginning to form on her face.

“You already did, didn’t you?” She nodded at his satchel. “Speaking of which, I should probably finish taking care of that. Tikki, spots on!”

It was one thing to know she was Ladybug, but another entirely to feel the pink crackle of her transformation tickle his skin, to see her mask sweep the tears from beneath her eyes. It unfortunately reset her pigtails, keeping her soft hair from his reach. 

“Adrien, you have to let go of me for a second, at least,” she giggled when he stared at her dumbly.

“Oh. Right.” He snapped his arms to his sides, like a kid that had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. 

Plagg snickered and flew out from the pocket of his shirt. “Finally. You were really squishing me there, Pigtails.”

“Good to see you too, Plagg.” She chuckled as she unzipped the bag and quickly purified the akuma. “Bye bye, little butterfly.”

“And good riddance.” His kwami snorted. “Sorry about my kitten, by the way. I tried to throw him off your tail before, but he’s too stubborn. I think he was looking for any excuse for you to be Ladybug.”

“Why wouldn’t I? Marinette is _amazing.”_ He hugged the beret over his heart. “Besides, I was right!”

Her grin lit up the whole alleyway. “You’re amazing too, Adrien. Even more amazing than I realized.”

“You—you really think so?” He was about two seconds away from actually swooning into her arms.

“Of course I do.” Her eyes softened. “You’re the best partner anyone could ask for, Kitty. I—I don’t know how I could ever give you up, knowing that you’re not just one but _two_ of the most important people in my life.”

“Me either, Bugaboo.” 

He put his beret back on so both his hands were free to cup her face. 

“Spots off,” she whispered, and his thumbs brushed her cheeks without resistance. She cupped one hand over his, tracing the circle of his ring in a soothing pattern. 

He could’ve stood there forever, just staring into her eyes, but he knew the conversation about their future couldn’t be put off for long.

“I don’t think Bunnyx is coming to stop us,” she said softly.

“Do you think…” He swallowed. “Do you think that means we’re going to be okay?”

Her eyes flickered to where Tikki hovered, looking torn.

“I don’t know,” the kwami said. “I do want you both to be careful, but Adrien is right. You can’t stop being Ladybug, and he can’t stop being Chat Noir. Your fight against Feast proved that.”

“And what about us being together?” Adrien asked a little too eagerly. Knowing that she loved him back was a dream come true, but it would easily turn to a nightmare if she expected him to act like nothing had changed. Not that he ever hid his feelings for her, but he’d respected that she didn’t return them.

Except she _did._ He was the boy she’d been in love with!

“Didn’t you hear her? She said you said that your love destroyed the world!” Plagg exclaimed.

“He wasn’t exactly himself!” Tikki countered. “It’s impossible to tell what really happened in the future without Bunnyx coming back. Which is why we need to be careful, but it’s not fair to ask them to just give up their feelings.”

Adrien didn’t particularly care what the kwamis thought. As far as he was concerned, this was Marinette’s decision. She was the one who had seen the future, or at least a version of it.

She was the one he loved. Who he would do anything to protect… but what if that meant letting her go? Was he selfless enough to do that?

He wasn’t sure. But he owed it to her to try to be. 

His hands slipped from her face. 

“I’m sorry. I’m not being fair to you. You were almost akumatized because of this, and here I am just worried about if you’ll go out with me.” 

He’d said he’d always be there for her, that he’d never let Hawkmoth use him, but how could he promise that when she’d already watched it happen?

“Adrien, no.” She squeezed his hand. “It was _my_ fear of the future that almost got me akumatized. If we have to live like that… always afraid of our feelings for each other—we’re just asking Hawkmoth to come for us.”

“Then… you don’t think it’s too dangerous?” 

Fragile hope danced on the edge of his voice. Maybe it wasn’t smart. But the future wasn’t set in stone—the fact that Bunnyx had visited at all proved that.

“I think right now, it’s more dangerous for us _not_ to rely on each other.” She smiled, and his stomach fluttered with the good kind of butterflies, the ones that wouldn’t try to twist his emotions into weapons.

“It’s too late to put the cat back in the bag anyway,” Plagg sighed.

“It would’ve happened eventually.” Tikki nodded. “I wish it weren’t so soon, but we can still make this work if you both are extra careful.”

“We will be,” Adrien promised. “I want to show you off to the whole world, but we could keep our love a secret instead, if it’s safer that way.”

“You think you’d show _me_ off? You know you’d be the trophy boyfriend in this relationship, Kitty.” She giggled and flicked his nose, and heat spread through him.

“I can be your boyfriend?”

“My secret boyfriend.” Her cheeks were pink too. “I mean—I wish we didn’t have to, but you’re right. It’s probably safer this way, so Hawkmoth doesn’t find out.”

“Secret boyfriend still has _boyfriend_ in it.” He grinned. “So what are my rights as your secret boyfriend? What kind of secret things do we get to do?”

He wiggled his eyebrows, making Marinette cough and sputter.

“A- _Adrien!”_

“I’m thinking secret cuddling, secret movie night, secretly adopting a hamster—okay, that one might be a little harder to pull off—”

Her laughter cut him off. “Oh my gosh, you’re such a _dork.”_

“What? Your dad said you wanted a hamster. Is that too soon? Should I have waited until the second secret date to suggest that?”

Her laughter turned to cackling, and he found himself laughing along with her. They were partners; they were best friends. She wasn’t going to secret-dump him just because he got a little overexcited about secret-dating her.

“Hmm…” She tapped a finger to her lips. “I think it should at least wait until after our first secret kiss.”

His brain officially fizzled out at the word _kiss_ combined with the fact that he was already staring at her lips. He licked his own, suddenly wishing he’d worn chapstick.

“Um. So. That secret kiss—can that be now, or—”

Marinette answered his question by crashing her mouth into his, by tangling her hands in his hair, knocking his beret to the ground. Which was perfectly okay. He didn’t need a hat to remind him of her when she was here in his arms and in his lungs. 

No matter how many secrets he had to keep, it would be worth it to be safe and sound with his Lady.

**Author's Note:**

> Tikki and Plagg prod them into going back to school at some point don’t worry


End file.
